Improvement in elevated railways



WESTCOTT.

ELEVATED-RAILWAY; N0, 169,.so6 Patented Nov.2, 1875 fay l ATTORNEYS.

n. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEc JOHN WESTGOTT, OF TOOOI, FLORIDA.

IMPROVEMENT lN ELEVATED RAILWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 169,606, dated November 2, 1875; application filed October 5, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WESTGOTT, of Tocoi, in the county of St. Johns and State of Florida, have invented-a new and Improved Adjustable Bumper or Fender Plate for Piles of Elevated Railways; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of a single-rail elevated track, showing the relation of the fender plate to the piles and the bearing-surfaces of the car; Fig. 2, a plan of the fender-plate; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the fender-plate.

The object of this invention is to provide a bumper or fender plate for protecting the piles of elevated railways, inwhich the track consists of a single rail mounted upon a series of piles, and the car is provided with pendent extensions upon each side of the rail, which extend down beside the piles.

The invention consists in two symmetricallyshaped curved plates, faced upon the inside with elastic cushions, and provided with flanges, which are fastened together by means of screw-bolts, so as to cause the said plates to tightly clamp the pile, and having lugs to keep them from turning. V

In the drawing, A represents one of the supporting-piles of the track, and B B the metallic bumper or fender plates, which have enlarged central faces a, against which the bearing-surface of the car abrades, and flanges b b, by means of which the two plates are clamped around the pile. These plates are intended to fend off the car and prevent the wear of the pile, and are designed to be used with specially-constructed lubricating devices upon the bearing-surfaces of the car, to reduce friction. Upon the inside of the said plates are constructed lugs or projections 0,

ingly reduce the friction; they also serve to regulate the adjustment of said plates.

By means of the above-described construction of fender-plate, it will be seen that it may be adjusted from time to time to suit the requirements of wear, &c., and the strength and integrity of the pile are not impaired by bolt or spike holes, which ordinarily constitute the means of attachment. If a plain plate were attached to the plate by spike, the jarring consequent upon the abrasion of the car would soon loosen the plate and damage the passing train, and its repeated replacement would so puncture the pile and expose it to the rotting effects of the weather as to greatly weaken the same and render the travel dangerous. The use of bolts passing through the pile is also objectionable, for the reason that it weakens the support and is not adjustable, all of signed by me this 4th day of October, 1875.

JOHN WESTGOTT. Witnesses:

SoLoN O. KEMoN, CHAS. A. PETTIT. 

